A New Master's Quest: The Elite Four Trials
by HandsOfFate
Summary: Tim has risen from obscurity to claim victory at the Pokemon League Tournament but now an even greater challenge awaits him: The Elite Four. Even if he can best these mighty trainers, the League Champion still lurks. With the help of his friends, Tim's going to do the only thing he can: give it his best shot.
1. Elite Four: Monday

Monday

I learned pretty quickly that being the Pokemon League Tournament Champion wasn't all fun and games. That became incredibly evident as I snatched my ringing cell phone off the nightstand and noted that there was no light coming in the windows of my room yet.

"What is it Jeff?"

"Are you awake?"

"… I am now." It was honestly the least angry reply I could come up with.

"Good. You don't want to miss your first day of meeting with the press."

I hid a sigh as Jeff continued to list off my itinerary for the day in his usual hurried speech. How the guy was this awake at a quarter to six in the morning was beyond me. Jeff had been assigned to me by the Pokemon League as my official assistant and PR guy to see me through the rigors of meeting with the press. He was well-organized and timely which was probably exactly what I needed.

"OK Jeff," I said when he finally paused to take a breath. "Let me get ready. I'll be downstairs in a half-hour. If they've got breakfast ready, I'd love some coffee."

I hung up before he could start rambling again with only a minor twinge of guilt.

With a huge stretch and yawn, I sat up in the king sized bed. Since winning the tournament and declaring my intent to face the Elite Four meant I would be sticking around for at least a few more days, the League had been courteous enough to upgrade my hotel room. I had just expected something a little nicer than the cramped single bed room that I'd had next door to my friends Dylan and David. Instead I found myself in a penthouse suite. Before I could cross my entire room in five or six steps. Now that same amount just took me to the bedroom door. The bathroom was connected to the bedroom and was bigger than my actual bedroom back home. I could've actually laid down in the shower it was so big.

In fact, I did it just because I could.

The main living area of the suite was big enough for a normal sized kitchen and island bar, living room with couch, chairs and entertainment center, and a balcony with a view of San Francisco to die for. Apparently Jeff had a key to my room because one of those fancy Keurig coffee machines had been switched on and the aroma of coffee filled the air. I snagged the disposable travel cup that had been filled and fitted it with the provided lid. I was going to need this coffee after staying up late celebrating my victory with all the family that had made the cross-country trek.

I nearly dropped my coffee when I opened the door to leave and found Jeff waiting for me. He had either been up for several hours already or had consumed an unhealthy amount of coffee. His black hair had been immaculately groomed and his thin beard finely trimmed. He immediately fell in step beside me and began rattling off the itinerary for today. I'd start out with a photo shoot and do some voice recordings to be used in promotional commercials. After that I'd essentially have a press conference where reporters would get to ask me questions for whatever stories they were going to write about me. Jeff promised me that it should be over by two in the afternoon, the time that it was agreed upon that I'd be free to resume my training. I may have won the League Tournament but four of the most powerful trainers in the world, five if you count the champion, awaited me three days away on Thursday.

The photo shoot was an interesting experience. It was more than just still photos with numerous videos being shot. Mostly it was me walking down halls or into the stadiums or sitting in the shadows and looking up into the light. Basically dramatic shots that served no other purpose than to make me seem intense and awesome. I was totally on board. The audio clips I provided seemed to go hand in hand with the video clips, making me seem much deeper emotionally than I was probably actually capable of being.

A few hours later, I was lead into a conference room by Jeff for the press conference. The sounds of _Come With Me_ by Puff Daddy preceded me into the room which was the song that had been selected from my list of choices for my "entrance music" during the final rounds of the tournament. I had been so focused on my matches I hadn't even noticed it before. I took a moment to appreciate the lyrics of Puff Daddy or whatever he was calling himself now atop the powerful strings orchestra. Jeff seated me at a long table covered by a black tablecloth. To my surprise there was more than one chair there. There were three chairs behind the table, each accompanied by their own microphone. From the other side of the room entered the familiar bearded figure of Charles Goodshow, the League commissioner. Following him was the even more familiar face of Professor Oak. They made their way to my table and sat, Oak on my left and Goodshow to my right.

There was a formal introduction by Mr. Goodshow, a rather humorous event given that every single reporter there clearly knew who I was by now. Goodshow reminded the crowd that I was the third youngest Tournament Champion with only the current champion and one other being younger by a handful of days when they had won their tournaments. When the commissioner was finished he opened up the floor to questions.

The first few questions were quick and easy, more to get me talking than anything else. Mr. Goodshow and Professor Oak were both asked some questions too but more and more flowed in my direction.

A woman stood and asked, "The previous champion Tyson failed to defeat the Elite Four. The champion before him didn't even attempt to face the Elite Four. Why do you think that is?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but I can't really comment on either of their state of mind. I have yet to actually meet either of them." It seemed liked a good answer to me.

"Why do you think you deserve to face the Elite Four given the results of the two previous champions, both of whom were more experienced than you?"

I leaned forward and put smacked my hand down on my knee. "Seriously? That's your question?"

To her credit the reporter didn't back down. "There has been some concern that your path to Champion has been weaker than in years past."

"Weaker?" I wasn't sure who should be more insulted: me or David and Dylan. "You think because I faced people that I knew that I had an easier path? People think that because I faced off against trainers who I had trained side by side with the entire previous year and know my own style probably better than myself? Those were probably the two most difficult battles I've ever had on multiple levels.

"And that's to say nothing of Zakhar Valchenkov. In case you've forgotten, The Russian is who you in the media had pegged as probably the favorite to win it all when there were eight of us left. Yeah, I watched the TV. So now that Zakhar didn't win, it's no longer impressive that I defeated him?

"I defeated every trainer in my path. There is no one that can say that I didn't earn my shot at the Elite Four. Maybe I'll fail, maybe I won't. I've got nothing to lose. But no one can say I didn't earn this opportunity."

A faint smile crossed the lips of the reporter and I realized that was exactly what she had wanted me to say. It dawned on me that she had been setting me up but not in a bad way. She had gotten me to say exactly what I needed to say in order to defend myself against the charge of not being worthy. Maybe I didn't have to view the press as enemies after all.

After my outburst in defending myself, it seemed to be going along rather well as far as I could tell until one reporter stood to ask his question. There was something about the look in his eyes.

He listed off some dates in September and then some more in February. "Do those sound familiar?"

I was ready to say no but something did seem somehow familiar. After a quick pause, I came back with, "Sorry, but no. I kind of lost track of the actual date while I was out traveling. Should I know them?"

"During each of these times, you and your friends were completely off the grid. There was no communication from any of you via the internet or phone. Also during those two time periods were two incidents involving Team Rocket. After each, you and your friends suddenly reemerged with pokemon extremely stronger than previously noted."

I leaned back and then back forward again. I knew what this guy was getting at but I wasn't going to make it easy. "Is there a question in there?"

He smiled slightly. "Every time there's a major incident involving Team Rocket, you vanish. When it's over, you reappear. What is your relation to Team Rocket?"

I hadn't even been champion for a day and somehow I was involved in a scandal.

"Well… it's complicated."

"Perhaps you'd like to clarify it?"

Before I could answer, a hand clamped over my microphone. I followed the white sleeved arm back to its source. Professor Oak wasn't looking at me but staring off into space. There was an awkward silence that spanned several seconds. Oak finally removed his hand from my mike. All the reporters had their recording devices and notepads ready now.

"Tim's involvement with Team Rocket is indeed complicated but not in the way that you may think," Oak said slowly. "He and his friends are not affiliated with Team Rocket in any way, shape, or form. Tim was involved in each of those incidents although not on the side of the Rockets. Neither time was he involved by his choice, instead being forced by the circumstances he found himself in."

Professor Oak's words carried far more weight than mine would have. As an established presence in the pokemon world, no one would debate his credibility. My word as a relative newcomer would've been far less reliable.

"Perhaps you could elaborate for us, Professor," the reporter pressed.

There was another hesitation from Oak. "The reason that the facts behind these incidents have not been divulged is that the FBI requested we not discuss it with the public until all facts had been discovered, especially for the first incident. We were asked to not discuss that event due to Team Rocket still being at large. After their leaders were defeated and taken into custody after the second event, not until the authorities were certain all members had been rounded were we permitted to discuss what had occurred. Only recently have we received the OK from the authorities to do just that."

"We accidentally wandered into Pallet Town," I blurted out. "Dylan and I battled the Rockets while our other friend went for help. Then Team Rocket kidnapped us."

Oak shot me a look.

"What?" I protested as the press erupted with questions. "That's what happened!"

The noise of shouted questions was overwhelming and there was no way to pick out individual inquiries. I held my palms out and motioned for everyone to chill. To their credit, the journalists settled themselves surprisingly fast. I leaned over and asked Mr. Goodshow to choose the order the journalists would get to ask their questions.

"How exactly did you end up in Pallet Town?" the first one asked. "And how did you manage to get out?"

I quickly recanted the story of how we had been lead to believe there was a shortcut when traveling down the Atlantic coastline by what I now had no doubt were Team Rocket plants. I was purposely vague about the town itself, only detailing how the townspeople managed to keep us hidden until we were challenged to battle for our freedom by the Rockets. Dylan and my battle was then explained and how David hid to be ready to support us and Vanessa, David's ex-girlfriend and our ex-traveling mate, had managed to escape and come back with the authorities.

"So you believe this is what lead Team Rocket to kidnap you and your friends?" asked a reporter.

"That's what they told us," I said with a shrug and then before I could stop myself, I added, "We had stolen something from their base and they needed it back."

The reporter looked up from his notepad. "Stole what exactly?"

I shot Professor Oak a pleading look. We had taken a bag of what looked to be miniature pokemon evolutionary stones only with one for every type despite there having never been such a thing known before. It hadn't been until later on that we had even realized that we had still possessed the stones instead of giving them to the authorities. Eventually we had learned after being kidnapped that they were actually not stones but elemental plates and the key to unlocking the Pokemon Sanctuary and ushering in the next generation of pokemon. I had been lead to believe we still weren't allowed to talk about the arrival of the Fifth Generation with anyone that hadn't been there.

Oak grimaced. "What was taken was a small bag of elemental stones. These stones were actually the dormant form of the elemental plates, theorized to be those of the Alpha Pokemon Arceus. Team Rocket had deduced that the plates were necessary to open the gate to the Pokemon Sanctuary."

The reporter started to ask another question and then froze with his mouth open as he digested what had just been said. "You mean to say that the three unidentified trainers that held off Team Rocket at the Pokemon Sanctuary…?"

"Yes." Oak gave a firm nod. "Those three trainers were none other than Tim and his friends David and Dylan. Their actions undoubtedly saved hundreds of pokemon from enslavement at the hands of Team Rocket by defending the Gate."

Suddenly the press conference took off on a whole new tangent. Now the press wanted to know more about what had happened at the Gate instead of my thoughts on the tournament. I could only imagine how many of them were already scrapping the stories they had planned in light of this new information. I did my best to answer their questions but left out some details that no one really needed to know. Also, admitting that pokemon from another world had been contacting me and my friends in our dreams made us seem just a little crazy. Since there was little to no evidence that there had not been one, but three trios of pokemon wielding legendary power, I didn't see it necessary to let everyone in on that secret.

Eventually Mr. Goodshow got the conversations steered back towards my impending duals with the Elite Four but by then the press conference was almost over.

True to his word, Jeff got me out of there just shortly after two in the afternoon. The press undoubtedly wanted to keep talking but it would have to wait for another day. Jeff set me loose out of the streets with assurances that if I called him, he could get me anything that I might need. He also made sure that I was aware that we would be starting at the same time tomorrow. I waved him off as I fired off a few texts and promised him I would be alright but that I would call the second I wasn't.

Finally alone, I set off at a leisurely stroll down the street. I could see the massive stadium in the distance and headed that way. The San Francisco streets were crowded with people even though it was the middle of the day on a Monday. People spilled out of shops and restaurants onto the sidewalks and filled the air with chatter. Even in a place filled with this amount of humanity, I went unnoticed.

"Tim! Hey, Tim!"

I looked around but didn't see anyone I recognized. I didn't even recognize the voice either although it did seem vaguely familiar somehow. It wasn't until I had completely a full three-sixty and was starting on the second did I see the man waving at me from a table in a sidewalk café. He was probably in his mid-thirties with a shock of hair that was a weird silvery blue. The girl next to him was probably only a few years older than me with fiery red hair pulled back in a ponytail. It wasn't until my eyes fell on the third member of their group, an aging man of Asian descent, did I realize who they were.

"Steven?" I asked with a laugh as I approached and shook his hand. "It's been a while!"

"Literally about a year," he said as I shook hands with the others. He waved me the unoccupied metal chair.

"Good to see you again too, Isamu," I said to the Asian man. "And of course, you as well Lacey. What brings a trio of Gym Leaders here?"

The waitress arrived and they forced me to order lunch before they would tell me anything. A few moments later as I sipped on some lemonade, I motioned for them to spill the beans.

"Every year a couple of us get to close up our gyms for a few weeks and come to see the Tournament if we want," Steven explained. "Last year we were all open. So the three of us got to come, along with Gary the ground-type leader."

"So the three furthest away, eh?" I asked. "How long was that flight from New Jersey?"

"Too long," Isamu said with a smile. "But not as long as it took Lacey to get out of the Everglades."

"It didn't take me that long," Lacey protested. "It's only like a day or so for most trainers! Tim! How long did it take you?"

I thought back to forging through the swamps just so we could face the grass-type gym leader. "Honestly, I don't even know anymore. Maybe a day? I kind of lost track of the days for a while there."

"That sounds familiar," Steven laughed. "That's why I placed my Gym in an easily accessible place. Isamu, your Gym has always been where it's at, right?"

Isamu nodded. "I have practiced the art of the poison pokemon in only one location since I was given the title of Gym Leader."

Our lunches arrived and I suddenly realized how hungry I was. Luckily Lacey was a quick and messy eater so I didn't worry much about how I looked as I shoveled a club sandwich into my face.

"So do you guys just hang out the whole time or do you have other duties?" I asked around a mouthful.

"Not official duties," Steven said, "more unofficial. Every year the Gym Leaders get together to battle their pokemon. We keep track of wins and losses and the winner of each group always gets first opportunity to come back again next year."

My mouth stopped working as I stared at Steven. I thought back to facing off against him back in Detroit almost a year ago. With Mudkip and Corphish I had defeated his rock-type pokemon. Isamu had defeated me in our first bout but I had bested him thoroughly in the rematch. Lacey had taken me on a wild ride but I'd ridden Charmeleon out to victory. I could only imagine how easy those battles would be now.

"No offense Steven, but aren't you kind of at a disadvantage here?" I asked. "I mean, when we battled your pokemon were kind of weak."

To my surprise, all three of them burst out laughing.

"Oh, every time! Every time!" Laney giggled. "Sometimes they're so naive it's cute!"

Steven slapped me on the shoulder. "Everyone asks that. Our pokemon always depend on our challenger. Didn't you ever notice that as your pokemon got stronger so did a Gym Leader's? The more badges you have, the stronger pokemon we use."

It took me a moment to digest that. "So what I faced back then wasn't your best?"

"Not even close." I must have looked skeptical because he then said, "I'll tell you what. You still get to use the fields to train, right? After lunch we'll go there and you and I can battle."

"Seriously?" I arched an eyebrow.

"I'll even give you a prize if you can beat me."

Well, now that was tempting. "Are you going to use your best pokemon?"

Isamu let out a small chuckle and Steven answered, "No, that wouldn't be fair. I've been at this so much longer than you, my first and best pokemon has world's more experience than you."

"I suppose that's fair."

After another hour of catching up on each other's lives, I made an attempt to pay the bill but was quickly overruled. The point was made that as Gym Leaders, each of them drew a paycheck whereas I did not. Since my Nike endorsement deal hadn't been finalized yet I didn't put up too much of an argument.

People moved out of our way as we headed for the stadium. I don't know what it was that made them do so. Perhaps it was our eclectic group or maybe Steven or Isamu radiated some kind of authority I didn't pick up on. Well some of the males were clearly just to get a better look at Lacey. Other than that, I had no idea.

Steven lead us around the side of the stadium to a pod of elemental fields. I wasn't sure how he knew I had access to those exact ones but he did. He was just full of surprises. I had one of my own and it was leaning against the door that had been programmed to open when I swiped my ID card.

"Dylan!" Lacey exclaimed. "I didn't think we'd see you too!"

Dylan put down the iPad he was playing on and adjusted his glasses as he looked us over. We'd known each other since we were in elementary school and had always borne a slight resemblance with our tall stature and brown hair and eyes, only to be enhanced once I started wearing glasses too. The biggest difference being that he carried more weight than I did, making him slightly pudgy to my skinny.

"Was starting to wonder when you'd show up," he said, shaking everyone's hands. "Didn't expect you to be bringing company too, let alone Gym Leaders."

I swiped us all in and we headed for the grass field that I was allowed to use for training. I filled in Dylan on what was going on and he seemed surprised. When we reached the field, Steven and the Gym Leaders took one end and I took the other with Dylan.

"Nice iPad," I said as we walked to the trainers box. "You get an endorsement deal with Apple?"

He snorted. "No. Haven't you checked your bank account since yesterday?"

"Didn't even cross my mind," I said with a shake of my head.

"We got paid." He put a lot of emphasis on the last word. "Every time we won a battle we got a payout, just like in a normal battle. Only these payouts got bigger and bigger the more we won. I even got a payout for the championship match."

"Seriously?" I hadn't even considered that.

"Yeah. I got five figures for losing so I can't even imagine what you got." Dylan paused for a moment and then nodded across the field at Steven. "Do you even know who that is?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I do. Steven the rock-type Gym Leader. If you'll recall we met him at the same time."

"Not what I meant. I mean do you actually know who he is?"

I had no idea what he was talking about and said so.

"I thought so," Dylan said with a nod. "I googled him not long after we battled him in Detroit one night when I couldn't sleep. His last name is Stone. That ring a bell?"

It did and that worried me slightly. "It sounds familiar but I can't quite place it. Who is he?"

"He was hailed as the first ever steel-type specialist. Back when he won the League Tournament."

"What?"

"Steven Stone is a former League Champion. He beat the Elite Four but was defeated by the Champion."

"Oh." That was all I could muster. "Oh, that's not good."

Dylan patted me on the shoulder. "Just thought you should know."

"Ready?" Steven called from across the field. "Two on two?"

"Sounds good," I replied, managing to keep my voice from cracking. "I'll start us off. Sceptile, go!"

"A good choice! Tyranitar, go!"

Of all the pokemon I had thought I might see, this wasn't one of them. A blast of wind and sand buffeted both me and my pokemon as the huge rock- and dark-type pokemon stepped forward. Covered with spikes and green armor for a hide, the tyranitar brought a sandstorm into battle with it, a heavy advantage.

"Good luck buddy!" Dylan said with surprising cheer.

"No time to waste!" I called to my pokemon. "Leaf blade!"

The one thing that was undoubtedly on my side was speed. Sceptile had shot across the field before Tyranitar could even react. The leaves on both of Sceptile's arms folded down as they took on a neon green glow. Sceptile leapt into the air, spun around and slashed both blades across the chest of Tyranitar.

"Iron tail!"

Sceptile bounced back into the air, now a silvery glow washing over its big tail. Somersaulting over it slammed down the tail onto the big rock-type pokemon. With a flex of its tail, Sceptile launched itself back towards me.

"Dragon pulse!"

Still flying backwards, Sceptile held both claws out in front of its body as the purple orb formed. The claws flew apart and the dragon-type attack shot out. It detonated against Tyranitar, shrouding the pokemon in fire and smoke. Sceptile landed on all fours right at the midfield point.

"Leaf storm!"

The yellow orbs on Sceptile's back lit up and a swirling cloud of glowing green leaves flowed out of them. The storm hesitated for a moment before honing in on its target. The large cloud of leaves narrowed into a tight stream as they pounded into where Tyranitar was finally becoming visible in the fading explosion. The big rock- and dark-type had its head pulled down and hidden behind its arms as the super-effective leaves raked across its body.

Silence reigned over the field until Dylan broke it. "Is… is it over?"

Tyranitar threw out its arms and let out a roar. Another wave of the sandstorm lashed out and slammed into Sceptile to force it back a few steps.

"Holy shit," I breathed. Three of those four attacks had been super-effective. They should've toppled just about anything.

Steven let out a chuckle. "Our turn. Stone edge!"

"Move it, Sceptile!"

Tiny specks of light began to navigate in an orbit around Tyranitar before forming into long shards of rock. Sceptile was already racing away as the shards of rock launched out. The stones cut through the air but Sceptile was faster. The stones left a trail across the field as they buried themselves into the ground in my pokemon's wake.

"Dragon pulse!"

Sceptile jumped into the air and spun around to hurl the purple orb.

"Dark pulse!"

A beam of black rings erupted out of Tyranitar's mouth. It slammed into the dragon pulse and detonated it before continuing right on through. Not expecting that, Sceptile took the dark-type attack right in the chest and vanished in the explosion. I directed Sceptile out of the fire and smoke with a leaf blade but we were surprised by Tyranitar's counter with a dragon claw. The two pokemon were knocked back by the combined energies of their attacks and another wave of the sandstorm. Tyranitar followed that up with an ice beam. Sceptile managed to avoid the brunt of it but there was frost covering the pokemon's tail.

It was becoming abundantly clear that my pokemon was not going to be able to go toe to toe with Steven's pokemon. It just had too much physical strength. Speed was going to be my greatest asset but employing it properly was going to be tricky. Steven was going to great lengths to keep decent space between the two pokemon. To me, that meant that he was worried about being able to block or dodge my attacks. Perhaps Tyranitar hadn't come out of my initial barrage as unscathed as I thought.

I pointed at Tyranitar. "Leaf storm!"

"Ice beam!"

To my surprise, the light blue bolts that formed the ice beam cut right through the oncoming leaf storm. The first few leaves had just struck Tyranitar when the ice beam flung Sceptile away. Its claws dug into the dirt as Sceptile shakily pushed itself back up. Clearly Steven's pokemon still had enough strength left that a frontal assault wasn't going to cut it.

"Nowhere to hide now!" Steven declared. "Finish it with ice beam!"

I thought quickly. "Dragon pulse right at your feet! Use a couple of them!"

Sceptile slammed a trio of purple orbs into the ground. As I'd hoped, a billowing cloud of smoke roiled up from the explosions and encapsulated my pokemon. The ice beam sliced through the smoke and kept right on going.

"Did you just ninja vanish?" Dylan asked with disbelief. "With dragon pulse?"

Two more explosions sounded and the cloud of smoke grew thicker. It had begun to spread over the field now. Tyranitar was looking about frantically now as it tried to determine where the next attack might come from. Although I would deny it later, I also didn't know where the next attack was going to come from.

"Leaf blade!"

There was a flash of green. Suddenly Sceptile was pass Tyranitar. Now my pokemon was down on one knee, holding the arm with the glowing leaf blade up across its body at an angle. There was a choking noise and suddenly Tyranitar collapsed.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle!" Isamu declared. "Sceptile is the winner!"

"Not too shabby!" Steven complemented.

I reflected for a quick moment on how different a friendly battle was from a competitive one. Had anything actually been on the line, I doubted that Steven would've been complimenting me let alone smiling as he recalled his pokemon. It was a nice change.

"That's only one though," he said. "And it only gets tougher!"

Huge and armored, colored with grey and silver with the exception of the sky blue eyes, I recognized Steven's aggron instantly. I'd actually faced two of them during the League Tournament so I was well aware of their dual rock/steel typing. It was a formidable foe to be sure.

Unless you're expecting one.

I looked back at Dylan. "And you say I never listen. Sceptile, return! Go, Swampert!"

Although not nearly as big nor as heavy as an aggron, Swampert was about as close to a physical tank as I got. Its water- and ground-types gave me incredible type coverage and the pokemon boasted considerable defensive prowess. The question now really just came down to experience.

Actually, it came down to type.

I had no doubt that Aggron was the more experienced pokemon but Swampert wielded too many attacks that caused doubly super-effective damage. Both earthquake and hammer arm served up disaster on an epic scale. Swampert didn't escape unscathed. When Aggron finally toppled I had little doubt that my pokemon had given it everything it had. If the typing hadn't been so heavily tilted in my favor there would've been no chance for me to win.

"I see what you mean," I said to Steven as we met up in the middle of the field. "Those pokemon would've been unfair to use in a gym battle against practically anyone."

"I know, right?" Lacey answered instead. "I barely ever get to bring out my strongest pokemon. Oh, my poor Meganium! My first pokemon and I haven't battled with it in ages!"

Isamu set a calming hand on her shoulder. "That's why we're here. To let our oldest friends have some fun."

I eyed Steven warily. "Was that your oldest pokemon?"

"You wish." A broad grin spread across his face. "My original pokemon was a beldum. It evolved all the way to a metagross some time ago. No offense, but I'm not sure both of your pokemon combined could've beaten it."

That certainly sounded like a challenge.

Seemingly reading my mind Steven said, "But that will have to wait for another time. You have more important things to focus on right now. Your first battle is on Thursday, correct?"

"Yup."

"Be wary of the Ice Queen. Heck, be wary of them all. Each of their specialties has a number of species with various secondary types. Some of them might even negate what would normally be a super-effective type. Think carefully when selecting your team. One wrong guess could be the difference between victory and defeat."

That was certainly something to consider. I had been prepared for secondary types but Steven did have a good point about some types suddenly becoming ineffective. It would definitely be something I'd have to put some thought into.

Suddenly Steven perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot! I promised you a reward if you beat me!." He reached back to his belt and removed a poke ball. "This aggron that you just beat? It's part of a line of aggron that I've been breeding. I'm getting ready to breed this one after all the festivities here. So if you would like, once the aron hatch, for your reward you can have one."

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "That would be awesome!"

Steven confirmed that I kept my extra pokemon at Professor Oak's lab and promised to transfer the pokemon there once it had hatched. Once that was taken care of, he and the other two Gym Leaders departed leaving just me and Dylan on the field. There was nothing but silence as we looked over the torn up battlefield.

"So," Dylan said finally. "Is David coming?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I sent him a text asking him to help me out. Don't think I've actually talked to him since our match."

"Yeah he was pretty mad about that." Dylan nudged a loose clump of grass and dirt with his shoe. "I can't say that I blame him though. It's not super easy for me to be here either. Just being here is basically having the fact that I lost rubbed in my face."

I looked at him. "You know that's not why I wanted you here. I seriously want your help."

"I know that." He gave a dismissive wave. "But that doesn't change the fact that every second here just reminds me of how close I got."

Silence reigned again.

"I wouldn't have been here without you," I said. "Hell, I wouldn't have even made it out of Michigan without you."

Dylan snorted. "You might not have made it off your street without me."

"Give me a little credit."

"Ok fine. You'd have gotten off your street. Maybe even out of the neighborhood."

I sighed. There wasn't much I could do about it, mostly because he was probably closer to right than wrong. "So are you going to help me then?"

"Only if you get me some of those fancy Nike shoes once your deal goes through with them."

"I'll see if I can get that written into my contract."


	2. Elite Four: Tuesday through Thursday

Tuesday

I never got a chance to get Dylan's shoes worked into my Nike contract.

When I awoke there was a decent sized cardboard box sitting on the kitchen island with a pile of papers sitting on top. I started flipping through the pages and I realized it was my contract with Nike. Throughout the entire document were small yellow post-it notes with quick explanations of anything I might find vague or uncertain. There were orange post-its next to spots that I had to sign. It took me a moment to recognize the handwriting as that of Jeff. He had taken the time to simplify everything for me, basically boiling it down to how much I would be paid annually, what my signing bonus was and what could potentially happen if I became League Champion, possibly a shoe deal. Right now I basically just had to have some piece of Nike apparel on for any public appearance where I could wear casual clothes.

The Keurig machine on the counter gurgled and issued forth a steaming cup of coffee which was exactly what I had just been thinking I needed.

I needed to make sure that Jeff got a raise.

The ever organized and ever alert Jeff was waiting outside the door of my hotel and began ushering me towards the elevator. It was a good thing I had him to steer me because I kept petting the Nike shirt I had on, unable to believe how soft it was. He managed to get me out of the elevator and into a waiting car without incident.

To my surprise, I found that the car had taken us to the battlefields.

Jeff quickly filled me in on the plan for the day. A reporter and a camera crew were going to follow me around while I trained. I'd have to answer any questions that might come up as well as explain anything that I felt might be unclear. The reporter, a blonde lady in her mid to late-thirties named Michelle, also encouraged me to just talk normally if I felt like it. If I wanted to just talk with her, that was fine or I could just jabber away. Her exact words were, "We can edit out anything that makes you seem like a doofus."

She and I were going to get along just fine.

This kind of interview was a lot more fun than sitting in front of a camera answering questions, it turned out. Michelle would follow me around as I did my training and ask questions, always open-ended to force me to talk and once I got going I actually did a fair amount of talking. While working with Steelix I told the story of how we'd met and how it was unable to use any attacks until I evolved it. Those kind of things were actually the majority of the things we talked about. I didn't have all my pokemon on display, just those I might use on my team, but I think Michelle got the story of how I met them all out of me. We did discuss some of my training methods but this lady had clearly been around the block a few times. She certainly wasn't trying to get me to divulge anything that might give anyone an advantage over me.

I was actually enjoying myself to the point that I didn't even realize we had gone way over our allotted time frame. I was supposed to be able to train without distraction after two o'clock but I completely lost track of time. The arrival of Dylan was the only reason that I even noticed.

"Huh, how bout that?" he said as the cameras turned to face him.

He scrunched up his eyes and stuck his tongue out at them.

Classic Dylan.

Once Michelle and her crew were gone, Dylan produced his iPad. "So I've been giving some thought to your team for this first match," he began. He pulled up a screen that had a generic image of every pokemon that I owned. "I actually put some serious thought into this. Some of it will make sense and some of it might be a little crazy. So obviously there's some pokemon that you'd never even consider bringing."

One by one, with a fingertip he swiped away the images of pokemon I owned but had never actually trained with. They were all ones that essentially permanent residents at Professor Oak's laboratory.

"Then there's ones that you have used but infrequently and they probably aren't to the level you need them at now."

He slid the pictures representing Jigglypuff and a pair of others.

"Then you have the pokemon who would be at a serious type disadvantage."

With a few more flicks he removed Sandslash, Staraptor, Haxorus, and Krookodile. To my surprise, he left Sceptile on the screen. I pointed at the picture but he held up a finger for me to hold on.

"Now if you ask me, there are three pokemon for sure that you have to have on your team and one more that I think needs the strongest consideration."

The first three he shifted off to one side were Charizard, Heracross and Raichu. Then he slid Steelix over to join them. "None of them are resistant to ice due to their secondary types mostly but all wield types that are super-effective against ice. Well, except for Raichu but you need something to deal with water-types. I think something like a third of ice-type evolutionary lines are dual ice/water."

I nodded. So far his logic was following my own. Despite this minor remedial lecture, I did have a pretty firm grasp on pokemon types at this point in my career. "So far so good. That leaves two spots left."

"Yeah and here's where it gets a little crazy," he said. "Stay with me here."

"I'm ready."

He swiped Sceptile off the screen. "I know it's one of your more powerful pokemon but that type disadvantage is probably not worth the risk. Gotta go a different route."

"Fair enough." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Then he swiped Swampert off the screen.

"Seriously?" I asked. "Neutral to ice with lots of possible attacks?"

He ignored the question. "I think the fifth spot needs to go to Gengar. Ice pokemon as a group don't tend to have terrific speed. Gengar has speed to burn and lots of power too. That might be the difference."

He slid Gengar over to his proposed team and then handed me the iPad to show me the only remaining pokemon left from the original group and the one he thought should occupy the final spot on my team.

"Are you serious?" I handed him the tablet back. "How did you come to that conclusion? That doesn't even make sense. That's practically giving my opponent an advantage."

Dylan did some technological magic and another page appeared. On it was another stock pokemon picture and a proposed moveset. "Just look. Think about it for a second. You think anyone would be prepared for that? I don't think the ability will even come into play because you'll already be dealing with it."

I had to admit he did make a compelling case. It was certainly a risk but it just might be a risk worth taking. The real question was did I really want to take that kind of a risk at this point in the game.

"Ok, here's what I'm thinking," I said slowly and scratched at my jaw line. "You get it going. I still need to think about it some more. But if you're already training, if I do decide to go that route, we won't have to scramble at the last minute."

Dylan flashed me his biggest grin. "Trust me. It'll work."

"What'll work?" asked a new voice.

Dylan and I turned to see David standing a few yards behind us. I wasn't quite sure how he had snuck up on us or even got into the building but I was glad to see him. He seemed different though. Those pale blue eyes of his had lost their determined shine and now just hinted at sadness. A forced smile wasn't completely clouded by his black goatee.

"Hey," I said. I didn't know what else to say. "I'm glad you're here."

Dylan leaned around me and asked, "Do you want a heartwarming speech about how he needs your help? I got one."

A small smile sprouted beneath David's thin beard. "Did it help?"

"Meh. It was ok. Nothing I didn't already know."

I rolled my eyes and looked at David. "I do want your help."

"Yeah, that was about the extent of my speech."

"Shut up Dylan."

David sighed and looked around the field. He didn't say anything for a few moments, just drank in the surroundings. "I suppose I can help."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You suppose?"

He spread his hands out. "Sure. My followers would probably like that."

Dylan and I exchanged looks. "Did you start a religion?"

David laughed. "No but someone started a Facebook page about me. I guess my philosophy of only capturing pokemon that I plan to use has got people interested."

"How many people are in it?" I asked.

He thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Last I saw, it was a couple hundred. I think."

"He's got a cult." Dylan crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "I want a cult!"

Wednesday

The final day before my challenge of the Elite Four passed by me in a haze.

I had once again met with the media in the morning this time in the form of a sit-down interview. Vague memories of the questions I had been asked clung to my mind but it was essentially gone. I had a faint recollection of talking about facing Team Rocket at the Pokemon Sanctuary. Hopefully I didn't say anything too dumb.

My training session wasn't much better. The thought of what awaited me the next evening was overwhelming in a crushing sort of way. Every time I tried to get focused on something, the idea of the first member of the Elite Four waiting for me would start to creep into my thoughts. My only saving grace was that all tweaks to my pokemons' move sets had already been done. All today was for was just for fine-tuning and to try and get any last minute stat boosts we could find.

As day faded into night Dylan, David and I once again found ourselves perched on some of the remaining boulders in the rock field I was allowed to use for training. The vast majority of them had been destroyed over the span of the past few days but enough remained for us to sit comfortably and gaze up at the clear night sky.

"So," Dylan said slowly. "Have you decided?"

I had been putting off the decision of the final pokemon on my team since day one. The plan that Dylan had proposed did have merit but it also ran a significant risk. What made it worse was that once Dylan had shown his proposal to David and David had immediately gotten on board, denying me the chance to foist the rejection of the plan onto him. The choice resided solely with me.

"I think you should listen to him," David said. "I think this makes a lot of sense. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

"Yeah, maybe," I mumbled.

Dylan pressed further. "This could be the one thing that turns the battle. She'll never see it coming."

"I know what you're saying but I need to be comfortable," I snapped with more vehemence than I had intended. "I'm the one battling. Not you two."

The quip was probably uncalled for, serving more to remind my two friends that I was the champion instead of one of them. Silence hung over us for a time with the only sounds being those that filtered in over the high walls of the arena. Finally I couldn't stand the silence any longer and slid down from my rock.

"I appreciate the input. I'll make my decision tomorrow. Thanks for all your help these past few days. I really appreciate it."

And with that, I walked off the field and headed back for my hotel.

Thursday

I hadn't slept well the night before, or really any night recently, but I was trying to ignore that fact as I was seated at a long table in front of a gathered group of reporters. The League had decided that for the first match I should get to meet my opponent beforehand like professional fighters do before a title bout. I wasn't sure if this was just a media move or if they thought it might help me out. Either idea could be plausible since I was still in a bit of a state of awe at being seated at the same table as a member of the Elite Four.

And what a member to be sitting by.

Lorelei, the Ice Queen, was absolutely stunning in person. I couldn't quite place her age but I had it narrowed down to between twenty-five and younger than forty. Any way you slice it though, she was in great shape for her age. Men of all ages drooled over her long legs, long red hair and the glasses she wore gave her an intellectual air. I found it a little odd that someone who spent all her time with ice pokemon wore a skirt and sleeveless shit but I wasn't complaining.

Finally all the official introductions were done and the commissioner had fielded all the questions from the media he had wanted to. That was my cue to get up. Lorelei and I moved over in front a display of the official logo of the League so photographers could shoot their hearts out.

Lorelei looked me up and down with a disinterested eye. "Are you going to make this worth my time?" Her tone was dismissive.

Before I could stop myself I shot back, "That's funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."

There was a horrible pause filled only by camera noises and lights.

Then she laughed. Not a mean laugh or a trivializing one but a genuine one.

"I like you," she said, the air of indifference gone now. "You've got guts. You might have what it takes. If you beat me, I'll be rooting for you the rest of the way."

We shook hands as camera flashes blinded us.


	3. Elite Four: Ice

Elite Four: Ice

The sounds of electric guitars and an orchestra filled the arena as Come With Me came over the PA system to announce my arrival. The artist at the time known as Puff Daddy began rapping as I emerged from the locker room tunnel into the bright sunshine. Applause erupted and people came to their feet. I kept my eyes focused on the track ahead of me, partially to try to stay calm and mostly to avoid tripping and making an idiot of myself. Several paces behind me came Dylan and David, officially announced as my couches. I had insisted that they join me on the sidelines. They wouldn't be in the trainer's box that I was heading for but seated on a bench about fifteen feet behind.

Once I was in place came Lorelei. She was introduced by a powerful orchestral song that I didn't know. Her eyes were filled with that disinterested look again. Once she was stationed in her own location, legendary Bruce Buffer once again emerged to do his classic introductions. The crowd rumbled with anticipation once he had finished. As the rules dictated, we each selected our first pokemon with the Elite Four member the first to reveal theirs.

"Jynx, go!"

I feel no shame in admitting that jynx weird me out a little. They're so almost human but not. They have the same body design, hairstyle and even wear a dress. Only the purple skin and the big round mouth really make them different. That and the whole ability to wield ice and psychic powers.

"Charizard, go!" I wasn't messing around. "Flamethrower!"

"Psychic!"

Charizard let out a roar and unleashed hell. A blue energy wrapped itself around the blast of fire and when Jynx move its arms, the entirety of the flames went spiraling off to the side where they slammed harmlessly into the ground. Jynx's eyes flashed blue and an invisible force slammed into my pokemon to knock it off its feet.

"Ice beam," Lorelei ordered with a sigh.

"Get in the air!"

The ice beam lanced out but Charizard was not where it had been. With what I considered to be pretty good speed, it had gotten off the ground and now circled high overhead. I was pretty sure Psychic didn't have a physical range but it never hurt to try.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Focus blast!"

"Focus blast," Lorelei echoed.

A blue orb dropped down from the sky at the same time as an identical one raced up to meet it. They slammed together and exploded.

"Flare blitz!"

Like some apocalyptic meteor, Charizard came screaming over the sky cloaked in fire. The explosion from the focus blasts had hidden exactly where it was coming from until it was too late. The fire pokemon streaked down and slammed into Jynx.

"Sweet kiss!"

I saw a flash of pink and suddenly Charizard lost its fire and spiraled off to the side. It crashed there and didn't move. I yelled for it but it still didn't move. Its body rose and fell with the rhythms of deep breathing and I realized it was asleep. Jynx had taken what appeared to be significant damage from the fire attack but it could still fight.

"Charizard, return!" The match had just barely started and things were tilting out of my favor already. I decided to go big. "Steelix, go!"

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. It was always hard not to be impressed by a pokemon the size of my steelix. "Jynx, use focus blast."

"Block it with iron tail!"

Jynx held up its hands and almost seemed to be pressing against the air as the blue orb formed. It made a shoving motion and the fighting-type attack shot out. Steelix was already moving. It had slithered all the way around to bring the glowing tip of its tail bear. The huge flat end slammed down against the orb. The initial stalemate was broken by a Steelix roar and suddenly the iron tail overwhelmed the focus blast and rejected it right back towards its creator. Jynx hurled itself out of the way as its own attack exploded at its feet.

"Steelix, use flash cannon!" I yelled, sensing a possible opening.

The glowing silver energy had already erupted over of Steelix's mouth by the time Jynx had managed to roll back to its feet. The steel-type beam washed over Jynx and detonated. I lost sight of the opponent in the silvery fires.

"Use dig!" I knew better than to watch and wait an explosion since using smoke and fire to my advantage was usually one of my tactics. Hopefully Jynx wouldn't be able to use Psychic on what it couldn't see either.

"Hmph, interesting," Lorelei said once the smoke had cleared and Jynx stood alone on the field with the exception of the giant hole Steelix had left. "Psychic and focus blast, together."

First the now-familiar blue orb formed. Then an energy of a different shade of blue washed over the orb. Like a shot the orb took off. To my surprise once it got over the hole Steelix had left, it took a hard dive into the hole. Jynx's eyes rolled back as it concentrated on guiding its attack.

I stomped the ground. "Fire fang!"

Steelix ripped out of the ground, not beneath Jynx but behind it. Fire filled its gaping mouth and it bit down hard on the ice pokemon. A fiery explosion bloomed and I lost sight of Jynx. I was so focused on watching Jynx that I didn't notice the focus blast come flying back out of the hole. It slammed into Steelix and the metal snake crashed to the ground.

"Jynx?" Lorelei called and her pokemon strode out of the fading fires. The two nodded to one another. "Sweet kiss and then psychic."

"Iron tail!"

Steelix's tail snapped around and buried, I mean literally buried, Jynx into the ground. I don't care how strong your pokemon is. That's going to take a bite out of your health.

"Steelix, return! Go, Charizard!"

I figured I had at least a few moments for Charizard to wake up. It came out of its poke ball on its feet but its head lolled to the side and its wings flopped on the ground. Just a few moments was all I would probably need.

I didn't get it.

The light blue psychic energy outlined Jynx as it floated up from the hole Steelix had put it in. Dirt and pebbles fell from its hair as it angrily shook its head. It certainly looked pretty pissed off at me.

"Charizard is immobile," Lorelei announced airily in case any of us had suddenly been struck blind. "Focus blast."

Jynx formed the orb again but this time instead of throwing it, its whole body shot towards Charizard. It cocked an arm back as it prepared to slam it into my pokemon.

"Snap out of it Charizard!" I yelled.

Nothing.

"Come on! Use shadow claw!"

Still nothing.

Jynx rocketed in and I realized I had made a terrible mistake.

Black energy swirled around Charizard's right claw and it lashed out. The drooping wings snapped back to their full majestic wingspan and slid Charizard out of the way of the oncoming focus blast. The shadow claw caught Jynx underneath the chin and sent it spiraling out of control.

"Hell yeah, Charizard!" I roared. "Flamethrower!"

As Jynx was crashing back to the ground, the fires of an angry Charizard washed over it. The force of the flames caused the ice pokemon to skip across the ground as the flamethrower chased it and poured on more damage. Finally it stopped skipping and Charizard ratcheted up the intensity for one final blast of fire.

The ref ran around behind me to that side of the field. "Jynx is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!"

As they say in sports, and the crowd goes wild.

There was just a moment of hesitation before Lorelei recalled her pokemon. I wouldn't say that it had been easy but I think she was probably a little bit surprised at how quickly I had dispatched her leadoff pokemon. To be honest, I was a little surprised at how quickly it had gone.

"That was but a taste of what you're in for. Mamoswine, go!"

The big hairy beast trumpeted a call out to announce its arrival. Charizard answered back with a roar.

"Charizard, return!" I knew that Mamoswine's secondary typing of ground didn't protect it from fire attacks but I still didn't feel comfortable with the match-up at the moment. Ground-type pokemon usually had the tendency to learn rock-type moves and those would spell disaster for Charizard. Instead I opted for a pokemon that still wouldn't be bothered by ground-type attacks but didn't have to worry about rock-type either. "Gengar, your turn!"

Mamoswine doubled up Gengar in the size department but size wasn't going to matter for what I had planned. "Gengar, use fire punch!"

Huge balls of fire swirled around Gengar's hands making it look like the ghost pokemon had on comically oversized boxing gloves. Gengar shot through the air and drove the first punch right into Mamoswine's nose. Popping up over the other pokemon's head, Gengar slammed down its second fist above the white ring that encircled the blue mask of the mamoswine.

Mamoswine barely even seemed to notice.

"Uh oh," I said.

Lorelei favored me with a tight smile. "Mamoswine, use ancient power!"

In front of Mamoswine's tusks formed a swirling silver ball easily bigger than a beach ball. With a roar, Mamoswine sent the orb shooting out at Gengar. The ball rolled through the air at a slow enough speed for Gengar to avoid both the initial contact and the resulting explosion from when it slammed into the ground.

"Ice shard!"

Mamoswine opened its mouth and a trio of blue specks shot out. They grew bigger and crystallized into chunks of ice as they honed in on where Gengar was. The ghost pokemon was able to avoid the first shard but the second and third slammed into it.

"Ice shard again!"

"Dark pulse!"

Mamoswine spat another trio of ice balls. Gengar threw its hands forward and launched a beam of black rings. The three ice chunks slammed into the dark pulse one at a time, each pushing the beam back further and further before being blown apart.

"Ancient power!"

Gengar tried to intensify its dark pulse as the swirling silver ball followed the same course as the ice shards. The two attacks smashed together but the ancient power bowled right through the swarm of black rings. Ancient power detonated atop Gengar and hurled it to the ground.

"Gengar, return!" I ordered, clearly in need of a new approach. In the back of my mind I realized that this was how I had expected the match to go. I quickly banished the thoughts about how easily I had been overwhelmed. "Heracross, go!"

As Heracross formed out of energy on the field, I noticed that something was happening with Mamoswine. The air appeared to be almost shimmering around it. The pokemon took a deep breath and a shudder racked its body. Then the shimmer vanished. It took me just a second to piece together that Mamoswine's abilities had just been boosted by its use of ancient power.

Lorelei pointed at the ground. "Earthquake."

"Get in the air!" I shouted but not before the first tremor had passed over my pokemon.

Lorelei tilted her head up to gaze at Heracross hovering some thirty feet up off the battlefield. "You can't hide up there. Ice shard!"

"Stone edge!"

The trio of ice shards was shattered by the falling stones. The sharpened rocks did away the ice attack and still remained intact enough that they slammed into Mamoswine. To this, Mamoswine did react in pain which confused me. Gengar's fire punch had been shrugged off but stone edge had been painful. The only thing I could come up with was that whatever Mamoswine's ability was, it gave it protection from fire attacks.

Good thing I had other options. "Heracross, use focus punch!"

Heracross shot down from the sky. A light bluish energy encapsulated its forearm, the same color as focus blast I realized. Mamoswine launched another barrage of ice shards. Heracross swung out wide and then darted in close. It drove its fist into the space right in between Mamoswine's eyes. The big ice pokemon lurched backwards, its feet dragging trenches in the ground. Whatever was protecting Mamoswine from fire attacks certainly wasn't doing the same for fighting-type ones.

"Mamoswine, use hail!"

Mamoswine leaned its head back and let out a howl. A light blue aura swam over its body and I immediately felt the temperature drop. Thick black clouds swirled into existence overhead. Fog appeared from somewhere, possibly from Mamoswine itself. Heracross lifted an arm to shield its face as the first of the tiny hailstones began to pelt it. They didn't do a lot of damage but I knew from experience that it could quickly begin to add up over time.

"Now Mamoswine, back to me!" Lorelei called. "Froslass, go!"

"A ghost-type, eh? Heracross, return! Go, Steelix!"

Froslass hovered about in the clouds of fog, seeming to disappear and reappear at random. Its ability of Snow Cloak gave it heightened evasion and coupled together with its ghost-typing, it became a rather difficult target to strike at. Luckily, I had seen this combination on more than one occasion and had a plan.

When faced with a small nail, wield a large hammer. "Steelix, use iron tail!"

Steelix roared and swung around, slamming its tail into the ground. My pokemon's tail was probably twice as wide as Froslass was tall. The odds should have been on my side, yet somehow Froslass was still floating through the fog unharmed. Steelix and I growled in unison.

"Flash cannon!"

The silver beam dug into the fog but was somehow halted several yards in front of Froslass where it detonated.

"Froslass, use ice beam!"

The trio of light blue bolts darted out and slammed into Steelix. They began slowly pushing my pokemon backwards, putting it in danger of toppling over.

"Steelix, use dig!"

Steelix gave into the forces being applied to it and dove backwards into the ground. Now that my pokemon was no longer under the ice assault, I could take a moment to think. Froslass continued to dance through the fog, almost taunting me now. I fixed the pokemon with a terrible look and then stomped my foot. Steelix exploded out of the ground in close enough proximity to send Froslass sprawling.

"Flash cannon!"

This time the steel-typed beam found its home. Froslass vanished into a silvery explosion before soaring back out under its own power. Unfortunately, it had stayed low to the ground and that was exactly where Steelix was sweeping an iron tail across. Froslass was splattered against the broad side of Steelix's tail before being flicked away and crashing into the ground outside the field. Hail pelted my pokemon as it waited to see if its opponent would rise. The ghost pokemon floated back up into the air and ripped off an ice beam with enough force to send Steelix reeling backwards.

"Hail!" Lorelei ordered.

Froslass drifted higher into the air. Streams of light blue energy began flowing off of it and into clouds and fog. The fog thickened and the clouds grew even darker. Steelix winced as the quantity of hail falling began to increase.

"Froslass, return. Go, Beartic!"

"Fiver!" Dylan screamed from behind me as the new pokemon formed on the field.

The pokemon called Beartic was tall enough that it would tower any of my other pokemon but Steelix. White fur coated its heavy body and thick arms. The only other signs of color on its entire body were the black pads and claws on its hands and the black nose and eyes. On its chin was almost like a beard but it seemed to be made of ice, giving it an elderly look almost.

"Watch yourself!" David advised. "There's no telling what secondary typing that thing might have!"

"Right!" I nodded to myself. "We'll just keep our distance for the moment. Steelix, use flash cannon!"

"Block it with stone edge!"

The sharp stones buried themselves in the descending flash cannon and blew it apart, leaving a shower of gravel and silver sparks in the air.

"Iron tail!"

"Superpower!"

Beartic reared back and flexed its arms. Even under all the fur I could see its body bulk out as a light blue aura washed over it. Its arms shot into the air just as Steelix's tail was coming down. Beartic caught, it actually caught, Steelix's tail and turning and pivoting, threw my pokemon over its shoulder. With a bellow and a crash, Steelix landed hard and skidded a good distance.

"Steelix, return!" I ordered as I lifted a poke ball. "Go, Gengar!"

"Beartic, use icicle crash!"

Beartic took a huge breath and when it let it out, a stream of light blue sparkles came with it. At first I thought the attack had missed. The sparkles were going well above Gengar after all. Then the moisture in the air began reacting. Huge, nasty looking icicles began forming and dropping out of the sky. I yelled at Gengar to move but there were already dozens of the icicles falling now. Gengar avoided most of them but not all, taking a few direct hits before clearing the falling ice projectiles.

"It's our turn!" I yelled. "Gengar, fire punch!"

Gengar shot across the field, both its fists and its eyes ablaze with fury. It pulled back its left to unleash its first punch only to find that Beartic was no longer there. Somehow the ice pokemon had disappeared into the icy mists. Gengar twisted about in the air trying to find its opponent, being pelted by hail the whole time. I kept thinking I caught glimpses of Beartic in the fogs but I would lose sight of it before I could alert my pokemon. The way it was coming and going, I quickly deduced that it too had the Snow Cloak ability.

"Aqua jet!"

Encased in water, Beartic erupted out of the fogs. It rammed into Gengar with a flying tackle that sent my pokemon flying clear of the field. Gengar had enough wits about it still to use its ghostly ability to go through the wall instead of slam into it though. It quickly reemerged looking furious.

"Gengar, use shadow ball!"

Gengar lifted its hands above its head as the inky black orb formed. It hurled the ball and before Beartic had even begun to move, my pokemon had already thrown a second. The evasiveness its ability afforded it allowed Beartic to dodge the two shadow balls though.

Not the third one though.

The third shadow ball exploded right in Beartic's face, knocking the big creature backwards. Two more shadow balls pounded into the downed ice pokemon before I saw it roll away and climb back to its feet.

"That's enough for now Beartic," Lorelei called. "Weavile, it's your turn!"

I had never seen a weavile in person before but at least I knew what one was as compared to Beartic. Just knowing that it had a secondary typing of dark was huge because I had just the pokemon to deal with this new foe.

"Gengar, return!" I ordered. "Heracross, you're up!"

"Weavile, use sword dance," Lorelei said calmly.

Weavile began slashing its claws through the air. A purple glow came about them and they seemed to grow longer, although the latter may have just been an optical illusion. Either way, my opponent had just greatly upped its attack power.

Luckily, Heracross had power to spare. "Focus punch!"

"Counter with night slash!"

Now Weavile's glowing purple claws had for sure gotten longer. They smashed into the fist of Heracross that had been encased in a light blue aura. The discharge of energy between the two attacks was forceful enough to throw the two pokemon apart. Undaunted, they charged back in and repeated the exchange twice more with similar results.

"Change it up!" I yelled. "Megahorn!"

"Ice shard!"

Heracross's horn shone with white energy as it blast forward. A speck of light blue held aloft between Weavile's claws became a chunk of ice that it hurled at my oncoming pokemon. Heracross shattered the ice without even slowing. It plowed into Weavile and drove it into the ground with tremendous force. Weavile went back to night slash and with a double underhanded blow, sent Heracross spiraling away.

"Get back in there!" I was sensing the momentum shifting my way now. "Focus punch!"

"Aerial ace!"

It was probably the last thing I had expected. Weavile exploded out of the hole Heracross had put it in, literally flying across the field with its arms outstretched at ninety degree angles. It blasted right through Heracross, hitting with a clothesline so ferocious that my pokemon did a three-sixty in the air before crashing.

And just like that, I had lost momentum.

But I knew how to get it back. "Heracross, return. Go, Charizard!"

Charizard let loose with a flamethrower, both as an intimidation factor and to ward off the slowly decreasing hail. Weavile wisely kept its distance. Both Lorelei and myself held steady for the moment, taking in and evaluating just where the battle was and where it was going. In that small amount of time, the hail stopped completely.

It was Lorelei who made the first move. "Weavile, return! Go, Cloyster!"

And there it was, Lorelei's big gun. It stared out from the inky blackness inside its dual shells with a perpetually mocking grin. The horn spike above its actual body gleamed in the now-returned sunlight. Most importantly though, it was part water-type.

I had only moments to decide on how I wanted to approach this newest issue. The first step was obvious and I went ahead and removed Charizard from the field. The second step was a little muddier. I could bring out Raichu but that was immediately give away my game plan. Using Heracross would also be an immediate give away to what I was planning to do. Ultimately, there was really only one option that made sense.

"Gengar, let's go!" The ghost pokemon was looking refreshed from its stay in the poke ball which gave me more confidence. "Shadow ball!"

"Icicle spear!"

From inside Cloyster's shell came a shower of tiny sharpened pieces of ice. They slashed right through the shadow ball, shredding it into nothingness. Gengar dropped to the ground and melted into a shadow. It zipped across the field before reforming itself behind Cloyster.

"Dark pulse!"

Probably the biggest issue Cloyster was going to have with my team was that they were for the most part quite quick. The big shell pokemon hadn't even gotten halfway turned around when the dark-type beam slammed into it and detonated. Cloyster stumbled to the side, toppled over and then somehow rolled back upright again. It appeared it was going to make up what it lacked in speed with defense.

"Rock blast!"

That big horn glowed silver and a barrage of small silver projectiles shot out too quickly for me to count them. Gengar was struck by the first, avoided the next several and then got caught by the last few. That revitalized look that Gengar had had just a few moments ago had vanished completely. The ghost pokemon was face down on the ground, struggling to push itself up. Those red eyes fixed on Cloyster and filled with fury.

It was time to break out the ace up my sleeve. "Thunderbolt!"

Suddenly Gengar was ablaze with lightning. One huge bolt tore across the field and right into Cloyster. The ice pokemon had tried to turn and take the brunt of the attack on its shell but the electricity raced over its body and enveloped it electrocution.

Lorelei didn't seem worried in the least. "Icicle spear."

Cloyster managed to reorient itself towards Gengar and let loose with the icy needles. Thunderbolt vaporized a number of them but enough made it through. Gengar was lacerated by the ice spears. It wobbled unsteadily, tipped back on one foot and collapsed on its back as its electricity died out.

"GEN-GAR!" Another blast of lightning erupted out of Gengar.

"Hydro pump!"

The thunderbolt had been a last desperation attack on Gengar's part. A gentle breeze might have knock out my pokemon making the huge blast of crystalline water complete overkill.

"Gengar is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Cloyster is the winner!"

And so we were tied at five pokemon apiece. I had designs on changing that though. "Raichu, let's go!"

I hesitated only slightly for the inevitable switch Lorelei had to make. She made no move though. I remembered something David had once said about how he had theorized that a trainer's first pokemon became exceedingly powerful at a much more rapid rate than the trainer's other pokemon. It made me wonder if this Cloyster was Lorelei's first ever pokemon given the faith she was showing in it.

Only a few seconds had gone by but I decided to not give Lorelei one more. "Raichu, use thunder!"

Raichu hunched its body over and then flew back open, arms to the sky and lightning blazing everywhere. A huge bolt ripped across the field, tearing up the terrain, and slammed into Cloyster. Cloyster writhed with agony. Then it ripped off a well-aimed barrage of rock blasts. Against all odds the glowing projectiles made it through the lightning intact and pounded into Raichu, sending it to the ground.

"Get closer!" I ordered and Raichu scrambled back to its feet.

"Hydro pump!"

Raichu was already racing in when I shouted, "Iron tail!"

The electric pokemon somersaulted into the air, bringing its glowing tail down to cleave the pillar of water. The iron-type attack cut into the water but had no chance of blocking it. Luckily, that wasn't the plan anyway. Raichu launched itself into the air off the water, its shadow casting down over Cloyster.

"Thunder!"

Raichu's lightning bolt encompassed its entire opponent and the immediately surrounding area. It was pumping out enough wattage that it was actually able to keep its body aloft as well.

"Cloyster, use icicle spear!" Lorelei shouted, the first tinge of worry evident in her voice.

"Focus, Raichu!" I called out. "Keep it up and use discharge!"

Raichu's tail swung out from behind it and erupted in a web of electricity. As the bolts and sparks whirled throughout the air, the burned apart any pieces of ice that they came into contact with. Not a single icicle spear came anywhere near my pokemon.

"Shell smash!" Lorelei yelled. "And then hydro pump!"

Even through the ongoing lightning I could see Cloyster's outer shell turn red and then shatter apart into small glowing white pieces. The pieces hovered nearby, seemingly unaffected by the lightning. The strain and agony on Cloyster's face was apparent as it realigned itself under the electric barrage. The pieces of Cloyster's shell suddenly swirled together in front of the ice pokemon's face. The pieces became a solid entity and then erupted outward in what was somehow a massive hydro pump. The blast of water cleaved the lightning in two with ease. The water attack blasted into a completely defenseless Raichu who was hurled away.

"Raichu!" I screamed as I watched my pokemon plummet to the ground.

The ref ran around the edge of the battlefield until he stood over my pokemon. "Raichu is unable to battle! Cloyster is the winner!"

I eyed the cloyster as I recalled my pokemon. We had dealt the ice/water pokemon devastating damage yet it was still somehow upright. The remaining shell was heavily charred but that was all Raichu had to show for its effort. From within the shell, the black face continued to sneer at me.

"All right asshole," I muttered low enough that only I could hear. "Time to finish the job and crush you flat. Steelix, let's go!"

"Finish this up Cloyster!" Lorelei said calmly and pointed a finger. "Hydro pump!"

"Inconceivable!" Her pokemon had to be running on fumes at this point. "Steelix, use flash cannon!"

Apparently it wasn't inconceivable as the hydro pump absolutely ate up Steelix's flash cannon. Steelix had to spin and dive away at the last second. I had never seen that shell smash attack that Cloyster had used before but clearly it had caused a major increase in its offensive capabilities.

"Iron tail!"

For the first time in the match, Cloyster actually moved. It deftly slid backwards and out of the range of the sweeping tail. Apparently a boost in speed was also a possibility from shell smash, or at least that's what I was figuring.

"Hydro pump!"

This time the water attack struck home. Steelix's head was snapped backwards and it crashed to the ground. As my pokemon groaned in pain, Lorelei finally swapped her pokemon. Instead of Cloyster, Steelix would now be dealing Beartic. I wasn't sure but I had to imagine that favored me.

"Dig!" I ordered.

With a flurry of twists and turns, Steelix disappeared underneath the surface of the field. Beartic didn't seem bothered at all that it couldn't see its opponent. Even without the benefits of the hail storm that had faded, it appeared supremely confident.

"Superpower!" Lorelei shouted.

Beartic reared back as its muscles bulged. I wasn't sure what Lorelei was thinking. Steelix wasn't even present yet she was calling for a close range attack. With a roar, Beartic slammed both fists down on the ground. Some kind of shockwave must have rippled through the ground because Steelix was forcibly ejected out of the earth. My pokemon groaned in pain as it found itself surprisingly airborne.

"Aqua jet!"

Beartic streaked through the rubble that surrounded my pokemon and slammed into Steelix was the flying water tackle. It rode Steelix down to the ground where all thirteen-hundred pounds of them crashed down and caused a minor earthquake that knocked me off my feet. Lorelei just swayed with the rocking, never losing her balance or her cool.

"Steelix is unable to battle!" the ref declared as I was making my way back upright. "Beartic is the winner!"

The ref waved his hands over his head, signaling a break. I had lost half of my pokemon, all in a rapid fire series of events. There would be a five minute intermission for me to regroup.

After that last display of power, I actually considered just laying back down on the ground.

"Come on, get it together!" Dylan was saying but I barely heard him. It wasn't until David smacked me across the face with a wet towel did I focus back in.

"Get it together!" David snapped, handing me a water bottle. "Breath!"

I realized that I had forgotten to keep breathing and took in a breath.

The power and strength Lorelei had unloaded on my pokemon in the last few minutes had been staggering. I had gone from a five to four advantage and feeling confident to down five to three and barely able to think straight. What had seemed like a good idea to challenge the Elite Four was suddenly-

David smacked me with the towel again.

"Stay with us," he growled. "You're acting like this is over already! You wanted us as coaches? Well now we're coaching! You've still got a trick up your sleeve."

I shook my head. "But how-"

Dylan interrupted, anticipating the question. "It's easy. Put Charizard on the field. Cloyster is the pokemon that matches up best against it. She won't start out with Cloyster though. It's taken way too much damage. She'll bring hail back into play before making the switch and then you're golden."

David nodded. "He's right. Even if she goes with her mamoswine instead, you can still use the same tactic once it brings hail into play. There's a good chance this will work."

I eyed them both. "You think so?"

"I don't see why not," Dylan said with a shrug. "Unless she starts with Froslass and is determined to stick with it but that doesn't make much sense."

"Now get back out there and kick her ass," David said, pulling me to my feet. "You already beat us. How much harder could she be?"


	4. Elite Four: Ice, part 2

The referee pointed to me. "The challenger will send out the first pokemon."

"Alright," I said with a nod. I wasn't super crazy about Dylan and David's plan but I was kind of stuck with it now. "Charizard, start us off!"

Lorelei considered this for just a moment. "Mamoswine, go!"

My first instinct was to call for a flamethrower but then I remembered that Mamoswine has some type of fire protection. "Shadow claw!"

Speed was my ally. Charizard dashed across the field, slashed the shadowy outline of a claw across Mamoswine's face and then shot into the air. Mamoswine spat ice shards out at my pokemon but in the air Charizard was fairly evasive for a pokemon of its size. It easily slipped out of their trajectory. Lorelei had her pokemon follow up the missed ice shard with an ancient power. Ancient power was bigger than the ice shards but also significantly slower. Charizard dodged it with ease.

"Now!" I threw my hand forward with fingers outstretched. "Focus blast!"

Charizard hurled the light blue orb with all its might. Aided by gravity, the orb picked up impressive speed. It slammed into Mamoswine and detonated. The ice pokemon howled and collapsed down onto one knee.

"Hail!" Lorelei commanded.

Mamoswine rose back up to its full height and let out a long howl. Even as high up as Charizard was it wasn't safe from the falling ice pellets. Soon the hail was falling at a continuous pace and a thick fog was roiling about the battlefield.

"Mamoswine, return! Go, Cloyster!"

The fog obscured Lorelei from view which was probably for the best because I felt my eyes go wide. It was exactly as my friends had predicted.

"Charizard, return!" I yelled as I swapped pokemon.

For what felt like an eternity, nothing happened. A breeze whipped up the fog and I had quick glimpse of Lorelei and her cloyster. They both knew I had sent a new pokemon into battle but they didn't know what it was or where it was. The fog swirled again and I lost sight of them.

Time to act. "Wood hammer!"

A bright green glow was just barely visible through the fog. It moved across the field and then swung around quickly. I heard Cloyster cry out. There was a flickering of green sparks as the recoil damage affected my pokemon.

"Focus blast!"

The fog swirled as the fighting-type orb burrowed through. The explosion cleansed that area of the field of fog. The ref just had enough time to get in and examine Cloyster before more fog rolled in.

"Cloyster is unable to battle," he declared before trailing off. He too was unsure of what pokemon I was using. It was a bit of an underhanded tactic but I felt it would at least be understood.

Lorelei's voice reached me through the fog. "Clever. But you cannot hide from me forever. Mamoswine, rejoin the battle!"

I made no move. I simply let the anticipation build.

"Mamoswine, ice shard!"

By some sheer stroke of luck, one of the small pieces of ice struck home. My pokemon let out a short, deep grunt. Mamoswine launched a second volley but my pokemon had trekked further into the fogs.

"Focus blast!" I yelled.

Mamoswine tried to get an ancient power up in time to defend itself. It managed to form the attack but couldn't launch it in time. Instead the explosions of the two attacks washed over it. Then there was the green glow again. Fog obscured our views but the sound of an impact was unmistakable.

The fogs parted enough for me to see Lorelei. She was looking up at the sky instead of the field. "Something is amiss…"

"Oh, you think hail is your ally," I declared, spreading my arms out wide. "But you merely adopted the hail; my pokemon was born into it, molded by it."

"No quoting movies!" I heard Dylan yell over my shoulder.

Lorelei's eyes dropped to me. "You didn't."

"I did." I pointed at Mamoswine who was struggling to get back up. "Brick break!"

The fog swirled and a huge form broke out of them. "Aboma-snow!"

Abomasnow slammed a glowing arm down on Mamoswine's head. Finally the damage Mamoswine had taken caught up with it as it crumpled to the ground.

"Mamoswine is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Abomasnow is the winner!"

The crowd was going ballistic. I felt my confidence swarming back to me. Dylan and David had been right after all. They had foreseen this strategy working from the very beginning and now thanks to it, I had evened up this match in just a matter of moments. Not only with Abomasnow did I have a pokemon that was immune to hail damage, it had given me a backup with super-effective attacks to use on the water/ice pokemon I had assumed would present itself. Not only that but who would have ever thought that I'd actually bring an ice-type pokemon with me?

"You've got guts, I'll give you that." Lorelei was shaking her head. "I never expected that. However, it's not anything I can't deal with. Froslass, go!"

Now I had a difficult decision; should I keep riding the Abomasnow Express or should I jump off in favor of one of my other pokemon? Momentum was one thing but being ill-equipped to face an opponent was another.

"Abomasnow, good job but return! Charizard, take over!"

A smile tugged at the edge of Lorelei's mouth. "Froslass, thunderbolt!"

That was something I hadn't expected.

The lightning bolt skewered Charizard, hefting it off its feet. Charizard crashed down but rolled through and came up in a crouch, one claw extended back and the other digging into the field.

"Flamethrower!"

"Block it with shadow ball!"

The black orb burrowed into the oncoming river of fire. The two attacks detonated in a spectacular explosion.

"Flare blitz!" I pointed and yelled.

Lorelei had been expecting this though. "Thunderbolt! Right through the explosion!"

The bolt of electricity had just shredded through the explosion to give Lorelei and I a clear view of each other when she realized she had made a mistake. From above the explosion came Charizard cloaked in flames. I knew I had a tendency to send my pokemon flying through explosions to issue powerful attacks. At this stage in the game, I knew I was getting predictable. Charizard crashed down atop Froslass and encompassed it completely with fire. The fires died away and Charizard launched back into the air as the still falling hail sizzled as it continued to pelt my pokemon.

"Let's finish this!" I couldn't afford to lose momentum now. "Flare blitz again!"

Charizard streaked down from the clouds, ablaze like some apocalyptic meteor. Only Froslass was no longer there. It had begun disappearing and reappearing at random throughout the fog again. Charizard came out of its fire tackle and tried to track the movements of its opponent. Hail continued to fall and I realized this was Lorelei's plan. Eventually the hail would wear down my charizard and it would be easy picking.

"Charizard, return!" I ordered. "Abomasnow, go!"

I was running a serious risk by returning Abomasnow to the field. It's most powerful attack also caused my own pokemon damage. However, if I could knock out Froslass then I would be in complete control of the weather. It seemed to be a risk worth taking. Especially when I had one more surprise up my sleeve.

"Froslass, use ice beam!"

Froslass began flickering in and out of view inside the fog. Each time it appeared it would fire off a quick ice beam before vanishing again. Abomasnow stood as still as a stone. Only its big red eyes moved as it tracked the movements of its opponent. I didn't know for sure but I had to imagine that being an ice-type as well gave it some kind of insight as to how Frolass maneuvered the fog.

"Wait for it…"

Again Froslass appeared, delivered an ice beam and disappeared again.

"Wait for it…"

Abomasnow winced as the next ice beam slammed into it, almost closing its eyes but not quite. It continued tracking Froslass. A slight tilt of its head told me the pokemon was ready.

"Now! Shadow ball!"

It was actually just sheer coincidence that I had taught Abomasnow shadow ball. But as the black orb found Froslass and detonated for super-effective damage, I was glad for the happenstance. Abomasnow reached back to form another shadow ball and hurled it at the reeling froslass. A second inky black explosion ravaged Froslass. The ghost pokemon crashed down to the ground.

The referee ran onto the field. "Froslass is unable to battle! Abomasnow is the winner!"

I actually had my pokemon off the field before Lorelei did. The longer Abomasnow was on the field, the longer the hail was going to fall. Once I removed the pokemon the weather effects would slowly start to fade. Since I was pretty sure her Beartic was gaining a speed boost from the hail I wanted it to end as soon as possible.

Lorelei went a different route anyway. "Go, Weavile!"

"Time for round two!" I declared and held out a poke ball. "Heracross, go!"

"Weavile, use swords dance!" Lorelei ordered. "And then use night slash!"

"Get in there with focus punch!"

It was just the same as their previous encounter. Weavile completed its little dance to boost its attack power and got up a night slash just in time to counter a focus punch. The two pokemon continued to block focus punch with night slash and vice versa until they jumped apart from each other.

"Ice shard!" Lorelei shouted, breaking from the script.

"Take it out with stone edge!"

Heracross threw its arms forward as it launched its barrage of stones. They shattered the ice shard to pieces without stopping which was to be expected. What wasn't expected was what came back through the stones. Cloaked the white energy of aerial ace, Weavile slipped and swirled between all the stones before ramming into Heracross. I unleashed a tirade of curse words as Heracross skidded across the ground.

"Come on Heracross!" I urged. "Get up!"

With a concerted effort, Heracross pushed itself up to its knees and then shakily drew itself back upright. The bug pokemon swayed unsteadily on its feet. Although my pokemon had only taken a few hits, they were quality hits that were doubly super-effective. Even the most solid of defensive types couldn't weather many of those kinds of attacks and Heracross was definitely not a defensive type. However, neither was Weavile. A few good shots and I might be able to get rid of the pokemon for good.

Unfortunately, Lorelei knew that too. "Finish it with aerial ace!"

"Fall back!" I yelled.

Fall back can mean a lot of things to different people.

To some people they might think of retreat.

Others might think of it as being overtaken in a race.

Or you can be like Heracross and take it literally.

As the bug pokemon dropped flat on its back, I screamed, "Close combat!"

Suddenly Heracross was below Weavile, looking directly at it. My pokemon unleashed a flurry of punches that broke Weavile out of its aerial ace. Heracross brought its feet up and delivered a kick that propelled the ice pokemon skyward. Wings snapped free and sent Heracross rocketing after its opponent. Heracross drove a fist into Weavile's gut before using its arm like a lever to back towards the ground.

"Make it rain, Heracross!" I snarled, throwing a hand out behind me. "Stone edge!"

Sharp rocks suddenly filled the sky and followed Weavile's plummet back to the ground when they slammed into the pokemon. Knowing that using close combat left a pokemon vulnerable, I quickly swapped Heracross for Charizard while Weavile was trying to figure out what had hit it. Lorelei was trying to call out commands to her pokemon but there was no stopping me now. My pokemon were on a roll.

"Finish it with focus blast!"

Charizard stepped into its throw like a center fielder trying to throw a runner out at home. Just the impact alone would've sent Weavile flying. The explosion was just icing on the cake. Charizard let out a triumphant roar as Weavile crashed down outside of our battlefield.

"Weavile is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Charizard is the winner!"

And so it was down to one.

Lorelei sent Beartic, her only remaining pokemon, onto the field. Although I was wary of being overconfident, I felt like I had the upper hand in this match-up. I'd been training my charizard since before Beartic even came into this world so I had that going for me.

"Aqua jet!"

"Flare blitz!"

One pokemon cloaked in fire, the other in water. They slammed into each other with tremendous force. A shock wave rippled across the field to knock me off balance. The pokemon were thrown apart, each crashing to the ground. Red sparks crackled over Charizard and I knew I was playing with fire. And not the good kind of fire either. Too many flare blitzes and I'd knock my own pokemon out.

"Stone edge!" Lorelei ordered, possibly realizing the same thing I was.

"Block it with flamethrower!"

The sharpened stones dug into the fire but fell well short of their target, now globs of molten rock. Arching over the flamethrower though came a barrage of icicles from Beartic's icicle crash, the first few stabbing into Charizard before it could get its wings going to move.

"Focus blast!" I shouted.

Charizard hurled another major league pitch with its focus blast, impressive to me since I could remember when the pokemon could barely hit the broadside of a barn with the attack. Beartic couldn't handle the velocity and took the fighting-typed blast right in the chest.

"Charizard, return! Go, Heracross!"

"To your feet Beartic!" Lorelei screamed, surprising me with her intensity. "Aqua jet!"

"Close combat!"

Beartic had just crashed down from the impact of the focus blast when it rolled backward and to its feet. Water swarmed around its feet. The water swirled upwards to encase the pokemon. Beartic bent to a crouch and launched itself in a split-second. It rocketed across the ring.

Right into a flying knee from Heracross.

Beartic's head snapped backwards. The big body kept going thanks to physics. It flipped over and Beartic crashed down hard. Heracross spun around and shot back towards where Beartic had fallen. It pulled a fist back but never threw a punch.

The air seemed to be sucked out of the stadium, leaving it silent.

The ref loomed over Beartic. He raised a hand. "Beartic is unable to battle! Heracross is the winner! Victory to the challenger!"

Dylan and David had practically tackled me before I had even realized what happened. The crowd noise was deafening. I pulled away from my friends and threw a celebratory punch before reigning myself in. I knew I had to at least pretend like I had been here before. Lorelei was coming across the field, taking the long way to avoid the massive damage we had wrought. I started towards her and extended my hand. To my surprise, she took my hand and pulled me close.

"Don't bottle it up," she said in the loudest whisper ever. "The people want someone real. It's why they root for you now. Be yourself." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "Give the my compatriots hell."

I was motionless for a moment as Lorelei turned and walked away. Then I spun and ran at Dylan and David. I dove at them and they lifted me up into the air. Scrambling down, I ran for the crowd railing. Hands started grabbing for me. I let them take me as I climbed into the stands. I started pointing at random parts of the crowd as they cheered louder.

Later I would find out that the League had been considering docking my winnings for the match for climbing into the crowd. Only intervention from Mr. Goodshow, the League Commissioner, on my behalf kept my winnings intact. To be honest though, that didn't bother me at all. As far as I was concerned, there was only one who could really judge me.

And I had to win three more matches to face him.


End file.
